30 yard drive distance increase overnight? Did this ever happened to you?

[Lihu]

4 minutes ago, saevel25 said:

The shaft would have very little to do with ball speed on off center hits.

No idea if I had largely off center hits or not. All my shots "sounded" okay, and I didn't really have time to clean and examine the face because too many people were waiting in line to test out the M1.

[SavvySwede]

10 minutes ago, Lihu said:

I do admit that the simulator shots I took with the M1 were better on average than my Ping i25 driver, but it wasn't even close to 30 yards difference. I thought it was mainly just the shaft was fit better for me, but maybe not?

I'm sure the Ping i25 has pretty good ball speed maintenance as well. The point of that picture was to shown how most modern drivers are good on mishits, not just the M1. The chart that had a 240 shot dropping to 210 from a 1/2" shot of the toe is just bunk.

[Lihu]

1 hour ago, saevel25 said:

I'm not buying it. It's not what I've seen in my personal experience. Yesterday I was easily hitting the ball a good 1/2 - 3/4 inch off center (toe side) and the ball speed was maintained pretty well. 

I would say heel side hits would see loss of speed more so than toe-side. 

That is why the actual best place to hit the ball is usually slight above center and slightly towards the toe. You get higher smash factor, slightly higher launch angle and slightly lower spin rates. 

The only big difference I am seeing is at heel strikes. That is yardage death on a driver. High isn't too bad because you actually get closer to optimal launch conditions (higher launch, lower spin). So that helps counter the loss in smash factor. 

 

I didn't understand the chart you posted until I pulled up the entire graphic:

Makes sense to me that you can see a pretty large difference on off center hits and from heel to toe. The toe is at a wider swing arc.

 

 

Ball speed does not always equate longer distances, spin plays a big role in how far and where the ball goes.

 

39 minutes ago, SavvySwede said:

I'm sure the Ping i25 has pretty good ball speed maintenance as well. The point of that picture was to shown how most modern drivers are good on mishits, not just the M1. The chart that had a 240 shot dropping to 210 from a 1/2" shot of the toe is just bunk.

Possibly, or the chart could be correct but is only noting the shortness of the shot and not including the direction due to other issues?

Here's an article by Andrew Rice:

http://www.andrewricegolf.com/andrew-rice-golf/2012/03/centeredness-of-contact

Quote

The research I have conducted using TrackMan has shown that better golfers (single figure handicaps or better) hit the sweet spot or center of gravity less than 20% of the time! Think about that for a second...

 

[SavvySwede]

4 minutes ago, Lihu said:

Possibly, or the chart could be correct but is only noting the shortness of the shot and not including the direction due to other issues?

If you're referring to this chart.->

I'd say pretty much everything is wrong about it. I searched it and the image comes from some terrible website that doesn't look to be completed.

[saevel25]

17 minutes ago, Lihu said:

I didn't understand the chart you posted until I pulled up the entire graphic:

Ball speed does not always equate longer distances, spin plays a big role in how far and where the ball goes.

Possibly, or the chart could be correct but is only noting the shortness of the shot and not including the direction due to other issues?

Trackman has disproved that graph all together. You can see that ball speed increases as you go towards the toe. The fact the graphic you posted has the heel shots going substantially further than the toe is just wrong. 

If you are comparing strikes horizontally they don't launch much different vertically because the gear effect doesn't change. Spin rates would be similar as well. The only difference is the ball tends to start further right and draws a tad more on toe strikes. 

Typically strikes on a driver are Upper left to lower right. Toe High to Heel low. You very rarely see Toe High or Heel Low.

 

[Lihu]

3 hours ago, saevel25 said:

Trackman has disproved that graph all together. You can see that ball speed increases as you go towards the toe. The fact the graphic you posted has the heel shots going substantially further than the toe is just wrong.

No, I meant your chart. You posted an incomplete picture, and I posted the complete one and even noted that toe shots should have a higher ball speed because of the longer swing arc.

In any case, the typical bogey/mid-cap golfer is going to have trouble with any kind of consistency. On one shot or even an entire day he might hit the center of the face with a perfect path and timing, and I could see an increase of 30 yards.

You and Vince are absolutely right that it takes a lot of effort and time to be able to hit more consistently that far. Swing mechanics just don't come to you overnight.

[SavvySwede]

6 minutes ago, Lihu said:

No, I meant your chart. You posted an incomplete picture, and I posted the complete one and even noted that toe shots should have a higher ball speed because of the longer swing arc.

In any case, the typical bogey/mid-cap golfer is going to have trouble with any kind of consistency. On one shot or even an entire day he might hit the center of the face with a perfect path and timing, and I could see an increase of 30 yards.

You and Vince are absolutely right that it takes a lot of effort and time to be able to hit more consistently that far. Swing mechanics just don't come to you overnight.

I believe we were arguing (at least I was) that today's technology makes the 30 extra yards less about mishits and more about wind/ground conditions.

[rkim291968]

With any drivers, distance parity between solid and mishit is going to be significant.  That's not what happened to me.   But I think it is possible for a high cap golfer to get it right one day.   Let's say a golfer has perennial slice issue.  One day he wakes up and something clicks.  He hits nothing but straight shot.   That can mean 30 yard gain on drive average.   

[Lihu]

9 hours ago, rkim291968 said:

With any drivers, distance parity between solid and mishit is going to be significant.  That's not what happened to me.   But I think it is possible for a high cap golfer to get it right one day.   Let's say a golfer has perennial slice issue.  One day he wakes up and something clicks.  He hits nothing but straight shot.   That can mean 30 yard gain on drive average.   

I believe that's correct, gear effect can cause loss of significant forward distance.

Given your normal roll conditions of no more than 10 yards and on that day you say you got 25 yards that amounts for only half the distance gain say you got.

Not sure what accounts for the other half? I think it's "getting it right for the day".

Let's say if the conditions are right to gain 15 yards, maybe you relaxed better and had a more efficient swing?

[rkim291968]

2 hours ago, Lihu said:

Let's say if the conditions are right to gain 15 yards, maybe you relaxed better and had a more efficient swing?

I may have but it couldn't have contributed more than a few yards.  I.e, I think it was more of the external factors (wind, ground condition - roll) than my getting it right.  One positive confirmation I've got out of this was that my solid drive average has increased by a few yards.  

[Lihu]

15 minutes ago, rkim291968 said:

I may have but it couldn't have contributed more than a few yards.  I.e, I think it was more of the external factors (wind, ground condition - roll) than my getting it right.  One positive confirmation I've got out of this was that my solid drive average has increased by a few yards.  

That's always a good thing.

I had a similar "jump" to your OP, but over the course of 3 months or so when I was playing every day. I played every day for about 6-7 months before this improvement started to "kick in". I played on average 110 holes per week or more. Some days I would play 36 holes. This improved my tee shot primarily because I wasn't "going for it" off the tee boxes. I was more relaxed before every tee shot, and I knew that I didn't need to maximize my tee shots all the time. My approach game improved quite a bit, and I was starting to hit balls on the course like I did on the range. The biggest improvement was my short game. Playing 110 short approaches per week on a dozen or so different courses really helped a lot.

Now that you have the opportunity to do that, it's a great way to improve.

[Dave2512]

Threads like this are why I think Game Golf is such a valuable tool. Learn what your real averages are and use that for on course decisions instead of the good day averages.

[Lihu]

20 minutes ago, Dave2512 said:

Threads like this are why I think Game Golf is such a valuable tool. Learn what your real averages are and use that for on course decisions instead of the good day averages.

Totally agree, and I noted this earlier in this thread as well.

I'm definitely a believer in the technology, so I use it on my iPhone 6S plus (where I sunk all my "spending on myself" money) until I can afford the "Live" version. It is so much easier to record a round, I really can't score without it anymore.

You've successfully converted me and now I'm totally spoiled.

[SteveH]

50 minutes ago, Dave2512 said:

Threads like this are why I think Game Golf is such a valuable tool. Learn what your real averages are and use that for on course decisions instead of the good day averages.

Exactly what I was thinking too. Told my wife the next time her or the kids want to know what to buy for me, lol, but I may just end up getting it myself, as soon as I start golfing this spring.

[The Recreational Golfer]

No, but after my back surgeries, I lost 30 yards overnight.

[rkim291968]

11 hours ago, The Recreational Golfer said:

No, but after my back surgeries, I lost 30 yards overnight.

Well, get back there and regain those 30 yards!